Ritter Sport Says Don’t You Dare Try to Make a Square Chocolate Bar, That’s OUR Thing

The German chocolate company won a lawsuit against Milka, another chocolatier that hoped to be square

Ritter Sport, the company behind those chocolate bars that get their own display at the grocery store because they’re fancy and European and cost, like, five dollars, has just won a case that forbids other “top-brand” chocolate makers from manufacturing and marketing chocolate in a square shape. Ritter, which supposedly started making chocolate in square form so it’d fit into jacket pockets easier, registered the shape with the German patent office, so when rival Milka wanted to make a square bar, it led to a series of court cases, rulings, and more court cases. We love pettiness!

While Milka won one court battle, according to BBC, judges have now declared that Ritter can maintain its trademark on the square shape, as “consumers considered the square nature of the chocolate bar as an indication of both where the chocolate came from and its quality.” They also say that there was no artistic reason why Milka needed to make a square bar. The reputation of Ritter has been defended! And there’s your update on chocolate on this fine Friday.

And in other news...

• Another day, another person without a mask furiously yelling in a restaurant that refuses to serve them. [ABC7]
• Another day, another viral video of a racist white woman threatening a Black man, this time a Postmates who was just trying to do his job and drop off food to someone in her building. [Twitter]
• The heir to the Red Bull fortune has charges dropped against him from a hit-and-run in 2012. [NPR]
• Because of the stagnant air in meat processing plans, a study shows the coronavirus can travel 26 feet. [Bloomberg]
• Hy-Vee is recommending, not requiring, masks, and customers say that isn’t enough. [Forbes]
• Del Taco is adding fried chicken to the menu. [NRN]
• Ancient amphorae were found in the back of a Spanish seafood store. [CNN]
• Pour one out for our neglected sourdough starters:

• All AM Intel Coverage [E]